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(No Model.) 7 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. F. SEARCH.

HARVESTER.

No. 394,513. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

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(1% Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2.

G. F. SEARCH. EARVESTER.

No. 394,513. Patented Dec. 11. 1888.

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3 Sheets Sheet 3. C. P. SEARCH.

HARVESTER.

,513. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CASPER F. SEARCH, OF VINONA, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO THE \VINONA HARVESTER WORKS, OF SAME PLACE.

HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,513, dated December 11, 1888.

Application filed September 20, 1887. $erial No. 250,188. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CASPER F. SEARCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'inona, in the county of \Yinona and State of 5 Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harvesters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates, in the main, particularly to the class of elevating-machines, and

I more particularly to the improvementsin the main frame for supporting the main wheel and gearing and parts connected therewith.

In other machines of the class to which my improvement relates the frame involves mass- I ive an d cumbersome sills, with which the platform-frame is rigidly connected. The sills form the base of this frame and support the entire weight of the machine, platform, elevator, and all, and in adjusting the platform this frame has to be raised and lowered, carrying with it the elevator-frame and the platform, an d the elevator-frame imparts no bracing strength to the main-wheel frame, but is an addition to and an incumbrance upon it. The

strain of the draft in machines constructed as above outlined, owing to the manner of forming and bracing the main-wheel frame, renders it rickety with use by loosening the parts or bolts, or parts on their bolts.

The object of my invention is to provide a construction of harvestenframe wherein the main-wheel and gearing frame shall be so combined with the elevator-frame as to make practically one rigid frame structure, not de- 3 5 signed to be raised and lowered in, adjusting the platform, the latter being adjusted independently of the former, but. carrying with it the rollers of the e'Lei'ator, as more fully explained in my application hereinafter cited. 40 My object is also to dispense with cumbersome timbers forming the main-wheel frame, and instead provide a light truss-beam structure to rest upon the opposite ends of the master-wheel axle, whereby the frame shall be raised above and allow the machine to clear obstructions on the ground, which is not the case with former machines of the construction referred to, since the wheel-frame extends below the axle close to the ground, and whereby the sickle-pitman shall be readily applicable at the front end of the machine to produce the so-called desirable front or end drive-a matter either impossible in other machines or attended with difficulty.

Further objects of my improvement are to provide a connecting medium for the several parts of this combined main-wheel and elevator frame, which will hold them with permanent rigidity against the tendency of the jarring effect incident to the use of the ma- 6o chine, which loosens the connections in other machines and renders the latter rickety, and to provide an improved connection of the tongue with the opposite ends of the masterwheel axle through the medium of the frame resting thereon.

My invention consists in the general construction of parts of my improved machine; and it further consists in details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view containing so much of my improved machine, except as to the tongue-connection, as is included in the present application; Fig. 2, a broken plan view showing the trussbeams of the frame upon the axle of the master-wheel and the tongue-connection; Fig. 3,

a rear view of the truss to which the tongue is connected; Fig. 4, a broken view, in side elevation, of my improved form of brace-rod; Fig. 5, a view in side elevation of the mechanism contained in 2, and Fig. 6 a broken plan view showing the gear and the housing therefor in section.

A is a frame constituting a combined mainwheel and elevator frame and comprising, essentially, the side plates, B and B, forming the elevator-frame proper, "ertical trussbeams C and C, and horizontal truss-beam C The truss-beams C and (1, each comprising a bent part, y, and a straight part, y, are secured at opposite ends to the side plates, B B, and are parallel, and the truss-beam (7 comprising a bent part, yi and straight ends 1 is turned on its side and secured in horizontal position at its straight ends to the side plates and extends at its bent portion into contact with that of the truss-beam C, to which it is rigidly secured by a casting, 0. The plates B and B are further braced from their upper edges by means of rods r and r (preferably, for the sake" of lightness, and like most of the rods connecting the several parts of the frame, metal pipes) and bars 7' and T the latter forming the seat-bar.

The side plates, which are of metal, are provided withcurved slots, as shown, to receive the journal ends of the upper elevator-rollers and permit automatic adjustment of the elevator-rollers and other parts connected therewith when the platform, which is adjustable independently of the main-wheel and elevator frame, is raised and lowered, all as clearly set forth in the above-mentioned separate concurrent application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 250,189, filed Sep tember 20, 1887 and to save metal parts of the side plates are removed to leave openings, as shown at 00, which may be closed by inserting thin boards of proper shape to prevent escape of the grain.

The gear mechanism for operating the machine is inclosed in a metal housing, D, formed in two parts, (see Fig. (5,) flanged at their edges to permit them to be bolted together around the gear mechanism, and each part contains compartments to conform to or fit over the particular gear it is designed to cover. As the particular gear mechanism of my improved machine is not new in itself, and since it is not new to house the gear mechanism of harvesting-machines to avoid entanglement with it of the grain and the accumulation of soil upon it, detailed description thereof is" not necessary in the present connection.

I secure the first and largest of the gear- Wheels to the hub or sleeve of the master- Wheel and afford rigid bearings for the gearwheels in the housing, whereby the gearwheels may be supported in permanently-fixed position with relation to each other, all as hereinafter described.

E is the mastervheel, of ordinary construction, but loose upon its axle F to revolve upon the same, which is of metal and hollow and provided with a sleeve or hub, F, and extends at one end through the part of the housing which covers the first cog-wheel, D, on the axle (see Fig. 6) and at its opposite end through a casting, 0, Fig. 2, which connects the truss-beams O and C and the truss-beam O is bolted to the part of housing covering the cog-Wheel D, asshown, and thus practically rests upon the axle, which, as will be seen, is rigid in its position and supports the combined frame. The farther end of the integral housing is connected with the frame and supported by a hanger-rod, q, and by a similar horizontal brace-rod, q, the former making the connection to the truss-beam C and the latter to the truss-beam. C

By housing the gear in the manner described and securely attaching it to the frame the housing aifords rigid journal-bearings for the gear-wheels, whereby the latter maintain the same positions with relation to each other even if the parts of the machine become strained out of their normal positions.

The rods q and q, like all other rods employed in my machine for connecting the several parts of the frame A, are of particular and novel construction, (shown in the preferred form in Fig. 4,) for a purpose hereinafter described. One end is threaded, as shown at z, and adapted to fit into a socket having an internal thread to receive it and provided on a part to be connected; or, if the socket be not threaded, a nut may be applied to the threaded end of the brace, which then extends through the socket to secure it against withdrawal, while the opposite end is flattened, as shown at z, and perforated to receive a bolt which secures it rigidly to the other part to be connected. If preferred, however, both ends of the brace may be threaded to be screwed into sockets in the parts to be connected.

All of the forms of brace-rod thus described are employed 011 my improved machine, as shown in Fig. 1. This means of connection is found to be very effective in preventing the parts from becoming loosened by the jarring and straining of the machine with use, as is the case in other machines, which are rendered rickety by the turning of the connecting-rods upon their bolts, provided at each end to secure them to the parts they connect. WVith my form of connection this is impossible, since with the preferred form shown in Fig. 4 one end fits into a socket, where it is held by the screw or a nut, (and further held by a collar, 2 if desired,) and the other end is flattened to fit against the fiat surface, to which it is bolted. The socket portion prevents the bolted end from being turned on its bolt, and the bolted end prevents the opposite one from turning on its axis in the socket. Obviously, if both ends be threaded, the connection afforded is also secure.

G is the main driving-shaft supported in bearings on the housingD and fender K, hereinafter described, and carrying at one end the sprocket-wheel G and at its opposite end the crank-wheel H, to which the sickle-pitman I is connected.

K is a guard or fender for the crank-wheel I-Land is supported in position to protect the crank-wheel by brace-rods n, connecting it with the housing D, thrust-rods on, connecting it with the truss-beam C and a hangerrod, Z, connecting it with the truss-beam C. These rods are all of the construction of bracerod already described. The construction of the fender K renders it very strongso strong, in fact, that it will ward off from the drivingshaft and crank-wheel the heaviest blow occasioned by the concussion of the machine against an obstruction, and thus save the parts from demolition.

L is the tongue, secured near its end in a truss, M, pivotally supported at its opposite extremities by means of sockets it, having lateral perforated ears extending from the front side and eyes k extending from the opposite side between bifurcated heads 1 and i, the former head being provided on the fender K and the latter upon the front side plate of the elevator-frame proper. (See Fig. 2.) The eyes 10 are pivotally secured by bolts passed through them and the bifurcated heads f and 11'. Rods h extend from the ears it, into which they are hooked at their rear ext-remities to opposite sides of the tongue, and are secured to the latter to brace it.

The truss M serves the purpose of the forward sill in the main-wheel frame of other machines, and besides affording a convenient means for connecting the tongue pivotally with my improved frame A at opposite sides of the master-wheel, and through the former to opposite ends of the axle F, it affords the necessary space at the forward end of the machine, behind the tongue, to receive and permit the pitman I to work, and, particularly, it receives the thrusts of the machine when entering or leaving a dead furrow, whereby the strain is distributed over the frame. Thus through it the draft is exerted directly upon opposite ends of the axle, and the thrusts to which the machine is subjected while in operation are exerted against the truss of the tongue and against the upper part of the main-wheel and gearing frame through the usual tilting rod. (Not shown, but of the ordinary form, an d occupying the usual position for the purpose in harvesting-machines.)

IVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a l1arvesting-machine, in combination with the main wheel E, a frame, A, comprising the parts B B C (1" C and carrying a fixed axle for the wheel, all the parts being rigidly secured together and forming a rigid combined main-wheel and elevator frame, substantially as described.

2. In a harvesting-machine, the combination of a combined main-wheel and elevator frame, A, comprising side plates, B and B, vertical truss-beams C and C, and a horizontal truss-beam, C to which truss-beams the side plates are secured, an axle, F, rigidly supported in the said frame, and the main wheel loosely supported on the axle, substantially as described.

3. In a harvestiug-machine, the combination, with the master-wheel, of the frame carrying the fixed axle and having parts provided with sockets, and connecting-rods q q, having threaded ends to enter and be removably secured in the said sockets and to rigidly secure together the parts.which they connect, substantially as described.

i. In a harvesting-machine, the combina tion, with the master-wheel, of the frame carrying the fixed axle and having parts pro- "ided with threaded sockets, and connectingrods q g, each threaded at one end to enter a socket and flattened and perforated at its opposite end and rigidly secured at that end by a bolt passed through the perforation and into another part of the frame, whereby the several parts of said frame are rigidly secured together, substantially as described.

5. In a harvesting-machine, the combination, with the crank-wheel carryingthe sicklepitman, of a frame having a horizontal trussbeam C at the elevator side, a fender, K, at the front near the opposite side secured to the said frame, a1'1dthrustrods in, connecting the fender with the truss-beam U substantially as and for the purpose set fort l1.

(5. In a harvesting-machine, the combination, with the wheel-frame, the fixed axle mounted thereon, and the tongue, of a truss, M, to which the tongue is secured, and pivotally connected thereby through the wheelframe with the opposite ends of the masterwheel axle, substantially as described.

7. I11 a harvesting-machine, the combination of the combined main-wheel and elevator frame A, comprising side plates, B and B, vertical truss-beams C and C, and a horizontal truss-beam, C and carrying the fixed axle of the master-wheel at opposite sides of said frame, and a truss, M, to which the tongue is secured, and which is pivotally connected with the said frame at opposite sides of the master-wheel, substantially as described.

8. In an elevating harvesting-machine, the combination of the combined main-wheel and elevator frame A, comprising side plates, B and B, vertical truss-beams C and C, and a horizontal truss-beam, C and carrying the I00 fixed axle of the master-wheel at opposite sides of said frame, a fender, K, secured to the said frame, and a truss, M, to which the tongue is secured, and which is pivotally connected to the said frame at one side of the 105 master-wheel and at the other side to the fender K, substantially as described.

9. In a harvesting-machine, the combination, with the main-wheel and elevator frame, of the tongue, a fender, K, secured to the said I 10 frame, a truss, M, to which the tongue is secured, pivotally connected with the mainwheel and elevator frame, and a sickle-pitman, I, working between the said truss and forward end of the frame, substantially as de- 115 scribed.

CASPER F. SEARCH. In presence of J. W. DYRENFORTH, GEORGE C. Coox. 

